Got my MyMini touring exhaust by UPS about 11AM Friday. Had it installed that afternoon. I put the car up on ramps and crawled under it with the thought of putting the exhaust on myself. Decided not to.

Everything was packed very carefully, (also ordered an IGT air filter).

I watched as the guy at the muffler shop removed the stock exhaust and installed the MyMini unit. Everything went fine until he got to the point of installing the new muffler strap/bracket. The stock bracket was different than the one with the MyMini muffler. The rod ends that fit through the red plastic holders on the stock unit pointed inward, on the MyMini unit they pointed outward, resulting in the bracket being far too wide to use. Called Pete at MyMini and he had left a message saying he had gone to Sebring to prepare for a driving school, would be back Saturday.

The good news, I'm at a muffler shop and not laying on my back under the car in my driveway.
Maybe we could put a few 90 degree bends in the bracket and make it fit.........although doing this without possibly breaking the rod and then having it work correctly looked a little unlikely. Plan B.....use the original bracket after removing the original muffler strap from it and installing the stainless one that came with the new system on the stock bracket.........went with plan B. A little cutting and welding and everything is OK. System installed, looks good and is very secure.

I have driven maybe 40 miles with the new system, all in town so far. The sound at idle is a little louder and definitely deeper than before. Through the gears there is a deeper and slightly louder sound.....very pleasing to me. At steady cruising RPM, the sound pretty much vanishes. Not being on the interstate at 75 yet I can only say that the likelihood of any sort of drone is very low. It's exactly what I wanted...but I can see how some people might want a louder sound as provided by the MyMini sport exhaust. There are a lot of variations, I bought the resonator version of the touring exhaust, you can get it without the resonator, which should place the sound between mine and that from the sport system. Or, you could install the sport exhaust and use the original resonator. The possibilities are many.

Pete from MyMini called me Saturday morning. We talked about the bracket problem and apparently there was a change in the design sometime in 03'. Pete is going to send me the correct bracket and a replacement original muffler bracket for the one we modified at the muffler shop. If I sell or for some reason ever put the stock system back on, (yeah, right), I'll have all the required parts. I won't change anything on the installation as it is, because it's just fine.

Here's the great surprise.......my expectations were exceeded big time in increased smoothness and an overall more free-revving feeling of my MC. I tried to be as objective as possible to avoid the "placebo effect" that comes with something new. I have always had a slight roughness from idle. I would describe it as a feeling that the engine shakes just a bit when accelerating from a stop. This was helped some by one of the ECU upgrades I got a couple of years ago. It is now gone completely, and the engine is as smooth as it should always have been. Also, it was 83 degrees here on Saturday so I turned on the AC. The difficulty in starting off smoothly with the AC on is greatly reduced and the car feels like it has more power all the way from idle on up.
I realize that the changes, (filter and exhaust), do not increase my HP by more than 2-3, but the change is very apparent and not something that leaves you thinking, "well, I think it's better" you will know it is.

Summary: Highly satisfied and recommend the product, and especially the pleasure of dealing with Pete at MyMini. Yes, there was a problem with the hanger bracket, but the resolution both at the muffler shop and from MyMini was completely satisfactory.

On a side note, Pete said they would soon be offering the MTH ECU upgrade. After feeling what a couple of HP can do to my MINI I may be have to try that one next.

 

Great review. This sounds like just what I'm looking for. I'd love to hear a sound clip. Maybe someone at the Dragon will have a MyMINI touring, and I could hear it in person.

 

Congrats on your exhaust - I have exactly the same setup (including the filter) from Pete and my experience (except bracket problem) is exactly as yours. Love the exhaust, and while I'm one who always says that any performance difference felt from an exhaust alone is probably "placebo," I've gotta admit I felt a difference. For anyone who wants a deeper, throatier tone w/o drone or too much noise, you can't beat this exhaust.

 

how long was the labor - less than an hour if the correct bracket was there?

 

Without any problems, less than an hour for installation should work easily.

 

Do you get any 'burble' on the downshifts?

 

Not really noticeable because the system is so quiet. I can hear a bit of a burble on deceleration that wasn't there before, but I don't think it would qualify as the "burble" you're looking for.

My big fear was I'd get a system that was too loud or that had an annoying resonance on the freeway. The touring system is perfect for me and, based on the improved way my car runs, must be a lot less restrictive than the stock system.

If you're looking for a distinctive "burble", my guess would be the sport system would provide it.

 

yeah thats awesome, Pete is a great guy. im going to pick up my intake tomorrow and i hope to get the pulley install lined up for somtime next month or sooner. then im getting the mymini fully polished exhaust. he is getting them with dual tips pretty soon. cant wait.
congrats again on the purchase